Max Holloway‘s face came out rather unscathed from his fight against Justin Gaethje. As for his legs? Totally different story.
The newly-minted BMF Champion surpassed all expectations in his long-awaited return to the lightweight division. Holloway excelled against Gaethje for five rounds, piecing up the gritty striker in a fight many were saying was tailor-made for “The Highlight” to win. In the end, it was Holloway got his hand raised with a buzzer-beater knockout of Gaethje.
Holloway before vs after fighting Justin Gaethje 😭 pic.twitter.com/Pj0zYJz4Cu
— Ben Davis (@BenTheBaneDavis) April 14, 2024
Vibranium Leg vs. Vibranium Chin
While much of the fight could be considered one-way traffic for Holloway, there’s no denying his fellow BMF had his moments in the bout, scoring an ‘unofficial’ knockdown of the fighting Hawaiian in round 4. On top of that, Gaethje landed 33 of his vintage, vicious leg kicks on Holloway which are sure to have to left a mark in the days that followed UFC 300.
“My left shin, it’s alright now, but they hurt, bro. This guy kick hard as s***,” Holloway said on The Joe Rogan Experience. “His bones, I don’t know what it was made out of, bro. I think Titanium. I like to say my chin is made out of vibranium, brother. He had a vibranium leg, bro. I was like, ‘He went to Wakanda, too?’ I was thinking to myself like how? I thought I only even got to go to Wakanda. I guess he went, too.”
Before you go looking up vibranium on the periodic table, it’s not a real element. The basically indestructible metal appears on the pages of Marvel Comics and also on the movie screen if you’re a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain America’s iconic shield and Black Panther’s suit are made out of vibranium, which derives from the fictional country of Wakanda, a high-tech African nation.
‘That’s Gonna Hurt Later…’
One of Holloway’s greatest attributes inside the Octagon is his durability and ability to take a punch. The former featherweight champ’s chin has yet to be cracked in the UFC, never having been knocked down prior to his fight with Gaethje (and still to this day if you go by official statistics).
Holloway’s toughness did wonders for him in this particular fight as Gaethje’s power isn’t only limited to his punches as his chopping leg kicks are considered to be some of the best in MMA today.
“At the end of the day, bro, it hurt. My shin’s still bruised,” Holloway said of the damage dealt to his legs. “It feels good. I move it whatever, it was like stiff after the fight in there. A lot of people always, I always hear you [Joe Rogan] talk about it in there and be like, ‘Oh yeah, it hurts…’ I don’t really feel it. Like I don’t pay too much mind to it in the fight. I can feel when he hits it and it’s like, oh, I’m telling myself that’s gonna hurt later, but you got 25 minutes, we gotta stay in here.”
Switching Stances
A common occurrence for fighters is that if a leg kick attack keeps bothering them, they will switch stances to avoid damage to the lead leg. Max Holloway, who fights from both stances, explains why he didn’t do so in his hardcore battle against Justin Gaethje.
“It wasn’t really a problem. I know it hurts. I know it was gonna be hurt after the fight. But then even that, like switching stances is the most craziest thing to me while after getting completely landed nicely there. ‘Cause if I switch stance, he screwed up two of my legs, what am I gonna do, crawl over to him? I rather have one leg than two legs messed up.”
Watch Max Holloway’s full interview on ‘JRE’ below!
